The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1887-02-24
The Sources of Rivers.

Most people have probably heard the
story of the house in Ohio which is said
to be exactly balanced upon the bound
airy hne between the basins of the great
lakes and the Ohio River that the rain
falling upon one side of the gable roof
goes TO join the St. Lawrence and the
ocean. while on the other side it helps
to swell little brook that finally ming
les with the Ohio and the Gulf There
is q more wonderful place than this In
India. Almost 500 miles due west of
Calcurta, is the Ammerkantak Noun
tain. which is place of great sanctity
in the eyes of the Hindoos, owing to the
remarkable fact that 1t is the source of
one of the large rivers of India, and of
feeders of three other rivers that are
among the greatest in the peninsula,
The torrents that flow down its sides
travel to all the cardinal points of the
compass The Nerbudda. which takes
its rise here. winds its way over 500
miles of plain before it empties into
the Indian Ocean. The three other
great rivers that are fed from Mount
Ammerkantak are the Godavery, the
Mahanuddy, and the Some. :
The natives of India have a great
reverence for the sources of q number
of their largest rivers, whose waters by
means of irrigating works are often
used in times of drought TO nourish the
soil and prevent or mitigate famines.
The Godavery. the most important river
in South India. takes its rise in a brook
that issues from hillside near the viii
lage of Nassik. The spot where this
brook CUISINES from the rock is APP
preached by flight of $50 stone steps,
at the top of which is u great stone plat
form built at the foot of the rock from
which the stream issues. An image
under a large canopy has been so
placed that the water pours out of its
mouth and then goes sparkling down
the hill. From this spot the stream
flows 900 miles right across the PENN
suia, growing on the way into a mighty
river and draining 10000 square
miles. The source of the Godavery is
one of the sights of the Bombey Presi-
dency.
Mr.. w. ID. Cooley, the geegrapher.
made curious blunder about the head
stream of the Luapula River, which
unites with the Lualaba to form the
Upper Congo. This stream is the Cham
best. which empties into Lake Bang
weolo. Cooley, misled by the similarity
in the names, thought the Chambesi
was the upper waters of the ZambeSi.
dnu IL appears on MS map as part OF
the Zambesi system. 1t is an interest
ing fact, shown by the latest discoveries,
that the Chambesi, which for some
years has been regarded as the ultimate
source of the Congo, must now yield to
the Lualaba, which is the real head
waters of the mighty river.
One little stream, whose waters flow
from river 10 river until they finally
ioin the AmaZOnS. runs for ten or Fif-
teen miles by the side of one of the
sources of the great Paraguay. Though
they flow parallel to each other. and
only two or three miles Spart, they run
in opposite directions. Canoes are often
hauled across the intervening portage,
and in this'way 1t is possible for a small
boat to travel from the mouth of the
Amazons to Buenos Ayres along the
inland waters of South America, and
with portage of only two or three
miles.